On another garden note, my middle earth garden has finally succumbed totally to the tiller.

I am going to terrace small garden beds down the incline, but I am undecided if I will place the railroad ties back.

I also have to resolve water run-off from hard rains. That is why the ties were used and the run-off dictated the design of the garden, but it made it hard to take advantage of my having a tractor.

I kept it for about four years, but have not been following the "Ruth Stout" method of layering mulch so it eventually needed tilling again.

What a chore in breaking it down! Almost killed me, literally!

As soon as I think we will get some rain, I will plant my fall garden, but I really would like to get a crop of edamame in before frost so it will probably HAVE to go in this weekend. I will probably have to protect it near the end of maturity.

The cool and cold weather crops should not be a problem. IN fact, the heat is more of a problem to them germinating right now.

My figs are starting to ripen but without rain they are going to be smaller. The heirloom fig I got from Italy has already produced some sweet fruit, but not very many. I need to relocate it.

My other one (I keep thinking Brown Turkey, but others disagree) has plenty of fruit. Just waiting for ripeness.

What is everyone else doing? The heat has held me back this Summer so I am praying for a long fall.

-- Posted by stevemills on Wed, Aug 31, 2011, at 6:58 PM

Oh, by the way, we will probably have another book drawing this Friday. I just have to dig into the shelves.

Steve Mills and his wife have one daughter and live on a farm outside of Bell Buckle. They previously owned two coffee/ice cream shops, currently operate an internet sales company and teach classes, but his primary job involves the paper industry worldwide. Hobbies and interests lie in gardening, photography, recorded music and of course, their pets.